KairoTech and Packworks are launching what they describe as the Philippines’ first “sari-sari retail media network,” using neighborhood retail data and digital advertising tools to help small stores improve sales, stocking and competitiveness as supermarkets, convenience chains and e-commerce platforms expand.
The partnership combines Packworks’ network of more than 300,000 digitized sari-sari stores with KairoTech’s audience-intelligence and behavior-led digital-media capabilities. The companies said the initiative will seek to connect brands more closely with neighborhood retailers and consumers at the point where many everyday purchasing decisions are made.
An estimated 1.3 million sari-sari stores across the Philippines make traditional trade a large but highly fragmented retail channel. KairoTech and Packworks said their model is designed to help brands identify demand at a more localized level while giving store owners access to data, technology and market opportunities.
For store operators, stronger and more relevant demand could mean faster product turnover and higher sales, the companies said. Better visibility into community-level demand may also support smarter ordering and inventory decisions, reduce inefficiencies and potentially improve purchasing terms and margins over time.
“Retail media should do more than make advertising more precise,” Ed Sunico, managing partner of KairoTech, said in a statement. “In the Philippine context, it can connect brand investment to real economic activity in communities—helping brands build demand while creating more opportunities for sari-sari stores to sell more, strengthen their economics and grow.”
The initiative comes as neighborhood stores face heightened competition from supermarkets, convenience stores, online marketplaces and other organized retail formats. Rather than replicating retail-media systems built around large chains or e-commerce platforms, the companies said their network would be structured around the country’s independently run micro-retailers.
The companies aim to retain the sari-sari store channel’s traditional advantage: its “suki” relationship with customers, built on proximity, trust, and frequent everyday interaction. They said digital tools should reinforce that relationship by helping owners respond more effectively to local demand rather than displace the personal service model.
“Sari-sari stores understand their neighborhoods better than anyone,” said Ibba Rasul Bernardo, Packworks’ chief strategy and communications officer. Giving them access to technology, data and market opportunities while preserving their relationships with customers can make the channel “stronger, more competitive and more sustainable,” he said.
For consumer goods companies and advertising agencies, the network is intended to provide a layer of intelligence between national media campaigns and consumption at the neighborhood level. KairoTech and Packworks said it could help brands identify priority communities, target marketing and distribution efforts, and assess whether consumer engagement translates into retail activity.
The companies said possible uses include product launches, regional expansion, promotional activity, distribution support and local demand generation. Packworks provides retail intelligence, ordering, promotions, route-to-market and precision-marketing tools to its micro-retailer network, while KairoTech offers programmatic-media activation, dynamic creative optimization and campaign analytics. Ed. Armin Amio
